New York: Citizens Campaign for the Environment Fieldwork Update

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition works closely with several member organizations in five targeted states to achieve our goal of restoring the Great Lakes. The work our member organizations do in the field is the backbone of our campaign – it amplifies our impact throughout the Great Lakes region. We’ll be collecting stories from the fieldwork being implemented by our member organizations and posting about them periodically. Our latest update comes from Citizens Campaign for the Environment in New York State.

Indian River Lakes, in New York State. Photo courtesy of Ducks Unlimited.

Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CCE), a HOW coalition organization from New York State, recently sent Associate Executive Director Brian Smith and Legislative and Policy Director Sarah Eckel to Washington, D.C., to meet with members of the New York Congressional delegation and educate them on the EPA and Army Corp’s proposed clean water rule. The proposed rule would restore Clean Water Act protections to numerous wetlands and small streams that have been at risk to pollution and destruction since Supreme Court decisions dating back to 2001 have rolled back protections for these critical waters.

CCE met with staff from the offices of Representatives Maffei, Serrano, Bishop, Owens, Maloney, Lowey, and Gibson, as well as Senator Schumer. The message to elected leaders was clear—the proposed rule is critical to the health of the Great Lakes and other important waters in New York State. The EPA estimates that more than 11 million New Yorkers receive some of their drinking water from areas containing these smaller streams. 90% of Great Lakes wetlands and 55% of New York’ streams are also at risk.

Check out our full list of field updates from other states and organizations here.